


Mr And Mrs Strange

by RavenThePhantomThief



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Awkwardness, Comedy, F/M, First Dates, First Love, Games, Holding Hands, Hospitals, Humor, I might add more tags later, Nerdiness, Not knowing how love works, Relationship(s), Sad, Slapstick, creative writing, references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2018-12-13 15:33:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11762928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenThePhantomThief/pseuds/RavenThePhantomThief
Summary: Futaba tells Yusuke and Akira to come to the attic. Nobody knows that this event will change many lives at once.(Now with a better text structure.)I noticed there is a function to add works that had inspired your own works so I added the work that inspired this.





	1. The Idea

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Futaba and Yusuke Make a Doujinshi](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11231289) by [OpheliaDusk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpheliaDusk/pseuds/OpheliaDusk). 



> Chapter 1, 2 and 3 are a bit short but the chapters, but not all chapters are like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter of my second series. I will try to update this ff and the other one regularly. I wanted this chapter to be much longer, but I had some issues and will continue this scene in the second chapter. I hope you can enjoy this chapter. ^^
> 
> This fanfiction is inspired by the fanfiction:
> 
> Futaba and Yusuke Make a Doujinshi
> 
> From
> 
> OpheliaDusk

It was a warm Friday evening when Futaba decided to call Yusuke and Akira to meet her in LeBlanc's attic. I was a mystery to Akira why she decided that his room was the meeting spot. Normally that would be fine. The Phantom Thieves always meet up at the Cafe, but never that suddenly and usually they called everyone here. But Futaba only requested the artist and their leader (which included Morgana).

"So what did you call us here for?" asked the boy with the frizzy hair as he watched Futaba dangling around on the chair on his work desk.

"Oh right, I forgot to mention that in the chat. I need your help for an idea I had a few weeks ago. Sit done, because this is going to - BLOW - YOUR - MIND!"

She waited a moment to see if someone reacted to her comment, but nobody moved. after a while, Yusuke broke the silence. "You found a place that provides you with free food?"

"No" Futaba looked at him with a confused expression. "I am pretty sure such a place doesn't exist for people like us. And the places that serve free food are for homeless people."

The artist stood up and spoke with a shocked voice: "So even homeless people get more food than me. What did I do to deserve this cruel fate?" He dropped to his knees and looked at the ground. Again nobody said a something. Everybody watched the Artist sinking down to the floor.

"Hey Yusuke, are you ok-" The boy raised his hand to signal Akira to be quiet. "Silence. I must grief..."

"Well, while Inari is busy with grieving about his eternal misery, I want to explain my awesome idea to you. We are going to make-" She stopped her own sentence for a dramatic pause. Then she shouted in the direction of the boys. "-A VIDEO GAME!" Morgana, who was sleeping on a chair near entrance jumped up in horror and fell down the staircase. "Why did you yell so suddenly? You scared me... and Morgana." The boy with the frizzy hair looked to the stairs and screamed. "Hey, Morgana are you alright?"

"I... I can't feel my hands... I can't feel my hands Akira!"

"Mona you don't have hands... you have paws..."

"...Oh yeah... forget what I said..."

"Could you please focus on the important things! What do you say to my idea? Is it awesome or is it awesome?" The orange-haired girl looked at the artist and the leader with sparkling eyes. "That sounds really cool, but what have we to do with this? We don't know anything about programming or something like that! Sorry, but I don't know why you told us to meet here Futaba." Akira sat down on a chair and started to poke Yusuke, who was still kneeling on the floor. He didn't react to it. "I know enough of programming and I have the right tools to do something like that. But I can't do it alone. There are a few things that I can't do." Futaba pointed at the grieving boy on the ground. "I need someone who makes the design and the graphics. The sprites for the characters, the monsters, the environment, the menu, the icons and other things. I am sure that Yusuke is capable of creating these things."

"And you think Yusuke will just agree to your plan?"

"I will. I am sure this form of art will grant me a new experience and a lot of new inspiration for my work."

"What?"

"Nice!" yelled Futaba and Morgana, who just made it back to the attic, jumped backwards and was gone again. "So he agreed and now you have to help me too!"

The black-haired boy sighed. "Okay. What should I do? I can't draw and I know nothing about computer programming and stuff. How can I help you?"

Futaba smirked and her glasses shone dangerously. She stood up and walked with her hands behind her back to the window. "Oh, I am sure that you can help me. Don't tell me you forgot that I can see everything you have on your phone."

"I know that but what has this to do with -" Akira stop and his jaw dropped. "Oh no, you didn't!"

She turned around.

"Yes, I did!"

She pointed at him with a malicious smile on her face.

"I"

She spoke slowly, almost painfully.

"Read"

Akira's face turned red. He started sweating.

"Your"

The boy stepped back and almost followed Morgana down the stairs.

"Story!"

Akira couldn't say a word. He was afraid of what Futaba was going to do with this information. "Oh Akira, I didn't know that you are a writer! I am impressed." Yusuke, who had decided to stop grieving (for once), stood up and talk to the other boy. He didn't care about his soulless expression. Maybe he just didn't notice it. "I would be delighted if you would allow me to read your creations one day." The raven-haired boy shook his head. He didn't hear one word of Yusuke's monologue. 

"What do I have to do, to prevent you from telling anyone about this! The only one who should new about this is Morgana and only because he's everywhere I am. Even Ryuji doesn't know about this, and I don't want anyone to know about it!"

"But why? Your writing is freaking awesome! I loved every second of it! Your story is interesting and your characters are authentic. Your protagonist is oblivious but honest and confident. Oh and your dialogues! Your dialogues are so great! They're smart and they always have a bit more meaning than the characters themselves know. You're a really smart writer. I bet the others would love your story too!" Akira looked at her with an annoyed look. He sighed. "So you want me to write a story for your game, am I right?"

"Yeah! It's gonna be an RPG! But no classic RPG with knights and stuff. I think it would be really awesome if the protagonist and the group are normal high school students that gained superpowers and have to fight against monsters and evil gods and stuff! That would be totally cool." Yusuke chuckled. "I must say that I have a little deja vu there. Maybe you can use our adventures as inspiration? I am sure you are able to create a great story."

"Yeah," added Futaba, while she ran to the stairs. "You two get ready for work, I am going to get a few things from my room and then we can start!" She ran downstairs and jumped over Morgana who didn't want to try going up the stairs again before the geek hadn't left.

The two boys were now alone in the attic. Morgana decided to continue his nap on the chair and for a short time, his snoring was the only noise in the room. At least until Akira broke the silence.

"Okay, I have to ask: Why did you say yes? I was sure that you didn't like technology. Even more, if it comes to art. I thought you would be the traditional type that only liked to draw on paper or on a canvas. Why did you agree so quickly to make some digital work?"

The artist was scribbling on a small paper because his sketchbook was already full. "I think it will be a great experience for me to assist Futaba. I never really created art with a digital device and this is the perfect opportunity to try it."

"Well, if you say so," muttered Akira while he took a look at Yusuke's sketchbook. "I didn't notice that, but you drew us a lot. This book it full of drawings about us. Especially of Futaba. Do you like drawing her?"

The other boy chuckled. "Yes, you could say so. Futaba's body is perfect for drawing practice. Her hair is not too bright like the hair of Ryuji or Ann but it isn't as dark as yours or Makoto's. It is really pleasant to draw her hair. Her eyes are really beautiful to look at too because the shape of her glasses is highlighting her eyes. Her posture and body structure are very interesting as well. The way she hides her hands behind her back when she walks or how she pulls her knees to her face when she is sitting down are fascinating. She appears as such a fragile being but at the same time, her thoughts are mysterious and complex. I wonder what her mind looks like now that her palace is gone. I am sure you could create a perfect picture of her thoughts. Another thing I like about her is -"

"Yusuke! Stop it!" The leader of the Phantom Thieves looked like he just saw a unicorn or something. "Do you know what you are saying? You're talking with way too much passion here!"

"Of course. I am talking about art after all. Why shouldn't I talk with passion about it?"

"No! You didn't talk about art! You talked about Futaba! But you talked about her like you talk about art! Do you... do you like Futaba?"

"You sound very outraged. Isn't it normal for a human to be interested in another human?"

"I don't want to insult you, but I thought it was pretty much impossible for you to be interested in a girl. The possibility of finding a strip club on the moon was higher. And now we found... I don't know... I can't describe this. It is weird like... watching an old lady falling up the stairs while a bird with three bizarre realistic hands eats a hot dog made out of glass and in the background, someone sings 'I am a Barbie girl' but he sneezes every 4.23 seconds. Geez even I forgot what this is a reference to..."

"Well, I think that was a really strange thing to say."

"Oh my god, it happened again."

Akira sat down. "Morgana help me. Everything is changing. Yusuke might be in love. What happens next? Is Ryuji going to start learning and getting good grades?" The feline awakened from his nap and looked at his friend with an annoyed look. "Do you need some fresh air? Maybe we should walk around a little. It will help you come up with ideas for the story of the game, too." The black-haired boy decided that his feline friend was right. He grabbed his jacket and left, leaving a slightly confused Yusuke behind.

* * *

_"Damned. Stupid Akira! Stupid furball!_ " Futaba was cursing in her mind. _"Why did he leave me alone with that stupid Inari!"_ She looked at the artist who was practising to work with her graphics tablet. She watched him drawing for a few minutes. Sometimes he grabbed a cup of coffee Akira made him before and drank from it. But he didn't drink much because it seemed like his cup was still full. It was a fascinating sight. Futaba sighed. She wanted to be with him today, but she didn't want to be completely alone with him. She was hoping for Akira's help. He was some kind of awesome big brother who helped her with things she didn't understand. Like feelings. And boys. And both things were in this room right now. But Akira wasn't. She was alone with the artist. Futaba curled up in front of her laptop. The silence was heavy and awkward. Her face turned a little red. What would the protagonists in her dating sim games do now? Wait. There was never an artist in the games she owned and the character that was closest to Yusuke was a homeless NPC that only appeared in some dark alley, never says a thing and gets beaten up a lot. Futaba didn't know what was worse. Her dating games or the guy she was interested in. She didn't even know if she was interested in him. He just appeared as an interesting person for her and when she wasn't thinking of planes to get Akira and Makoto to declare their love for each other (she knew that the two liked each other, but both of them were chickens), she was thinking about the boy with the dark blue hair. Where he was and what he was doing right now. What was going on in his mind when he was painting on a canvas or drawing on a piece of paper. There were so many things about him that she wanted to know. He was like a shadow. Mysterious and fascinating. She wanted to analyze him. She wanted to know more about him. She knew him for weeks, even months but his whole life was a mystery to her. He spent the whole day painting and drawing or talking about how tasty tap water was. When he sees a good brush or something like that he buys it instantly, even if he can't buy food for a week afterwards. He carried two lobsters around for a whole day cause he wanted to keep them only to forget them at the train later. He was a talented artist and a good friend but at the same time, he was a walking mess. He never had money and he said a lot of stuff at the wrong time. It was a wonder that the boy was still alive. She sighed again. Akira never left without saying something. Whatever happened here, it must have been something terrifying. But it was her chance to learn more about the eccentric artist. His social skills were only a little bit higher than hers. She had a chance of winning in a battle of social interaction. And she wanted that level up!

"Is everything alright? Do you have any problems?"

"Not at all. It is surprisingly easy to draw with this device."

"That's good. You should start drawing. I made a list of the things we need. If you need graphics from another game as a reference I can show you some things from Final Fantasy 2. I believe Akira owns a copy of Final Fantasy 2 for his console. He plays it with Ryuji sometimes. "

"But Akira didn't say anything about his story ideas. I have no idea what characters he is thinking of. How should I draw them?"

The orange-haired girl thought about it a few seconds before she came to a solution. "You can use us as a reference. You drew us a few times, didn't you? I am sure that you can use this!" She turned around and looked into his sketchbook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a really good reference in this fanfiction, but Akira saying "Geez even I forgot what this is a reference to..." is a reference to the Simpsons Episode "Clockwork Yellow". The Comic book guy says this sentence.
> 
> It would be really cool if you could leave a comment when you liked the story.


	2. The Move

"I am sure that you can use the pictures in your sketchbook." Futaba opened the book and looked through the book and looked through the pages. "If the characters should look like us, then you can use your sketches of us as an example. Here you have a picture of Makoto, here is a drawing of me, here is a picture of Ann and Ryuji fighting with each other, a picture of me drinking coffee, a picture of Akira in his apron, a sketch of me..." The girl suddenly stopped speaking and just looked at the pages quietly. A picture of someone else, a picture of her, a picture of another person, a picture of her, a sketch of Morgana in a dress, which looks really adorable- wait, that's not the point! Why did he spend so much time drawing her? He must be thinking about her a lot...

Futaba's face froze. She sat down on the sofa, staring at the last sketch in the book. Another picture of herself. It was a picture of her sitting at a coffee table at Leblanc, drinking a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. She didn't know for sure if it was Leblanc. the table and the background were missing too many details. But she knew who the girl in the picture was... Futaba. She was there. 100%. Every detail about her was right. She recognized her favourite shirt! It was a perfect copy of it. The pattern was perfect. She could see every single colour of it in her inner eye on the black and white drawing. The different shades of his pen made them clear. She found every detail of her jacket she was searching for. The fur of the hood was exactly like it was on her real jacket. He even drew the missing zipper! No one else noticed it before. The way her hair was laying on her shoulders after she moved around too much when she was excited or had too much coffee. How her glasses reflected the light. It was perfect. A perfect copy. Perfect. There was no other way to describe it. Every detail she liked and didn't like about herself was captured in that picture. No one could do that casually. The artist had to stare at her for a long time. But the artist of this picture was Yusuke! And the girl in this picture was herself. How did he do that? This wasn't possible, even for Yusuke. He had to watch her in every meeting of the Phantom Thieves for that amount of detail.... but maybe... maybe he did exactly that. Maybe he spent his free time with asking himself what she was doing right now? Just like she thought about him...

"Are you okay?" The blue-haired boy sat down on the sofa and looked at her. "Are you not feeling well? Your face has a strange red colour." He touched her forehead to feel if she had a fever or something and Futaba felt the temperature in her face rising.

"He... Hey... Yusuke... you have a lot... lots of drawings of me... do you..." She whispered the last sentence. Do you like drawing me?" The boy looked at her with a curious look.

"Strange. Akira asks me the same question."

He looked at the ceiling like he was trying to avoid to answer her question. It seemed like he was in the same situation she was in right now. But that proved that he was as helpless as she was right now. He was like a Magikarp. There was no way he had more knowledge about this topic than she had. "Well," to her surprise he was able to give her an answer. "I am spending a lot of time with thinking and drawing about you, so I think I like you. At least I am sure that I would be sad if you weren't around anymore." Futaba felt how the air was escaping her lungs. Magikarp Lv102 used "punch in the guts". It is super effective. One hit. How was he able to say something like that with so much confidence?

"Why are you asking me this question? There is nothing wrong with this isn't there?"

"No! No, no! It isn't... I think!..." Her face changed to a darker shade of red. "...Anyway... I... I like you too... you know." She pressed her head against her knees, so he couldn't see her face anymore.

"Well, then everything is fine isn't it?"

She looked up. "What?" Futaba stared at him with her eyes wide open. "Well, I told you that I like you and you told me that you like me. So we know now that we like each other. Is that not good? That's what you call love, right?

Normally Futaba would be embarrassed that he used the word "Love" so casually, but she was too distracted by something else. He was right. They told each other how they felt and that was it. Nothing else happened. The world was still spinning and no evil monster appeared. "WHAT THE FUCK!" Futaba stood up and yelled into the room. "IT IS THAT EASY? WHY DO PEOPLE IN ANIME NEED MORE THAN 30 EPISODES TO DO THAT? IT FEELS LIKE WATCHING DRAGONBALL WITH PACIFISTS! WHY THE HELL ARE WE THE ONES WHO GET THEIR SHIT TOGETHER? WHY ARE AKIRA AND MAKOTO NOT ABLE TO DO THAT?"

"Because they are too sapient."

The girl turned around and looked at the artist. Yusuke noticed that she didn't understand his statement and tried to explain it.

"You know how they always have a plan and think of everything that could happen? It is possible that they are overthinking their situation and don't know what to do. Maybe they see it from the wrong side... or from too many sides."

"So we are less complicated! Awesome!"

It sounded more ironic than it actually was. The geek was happy that she survived this and smiled. Now she could look forward to the nice things.... what things? The blue-haired boy didn't seem to know much more.

"So what do we do now?"

I don't know. I never thought that I would get that far."

"I have to admit that I don't have any experience on this subject either. What do people that like each other do in their free time."

"I don't know. What happens in movies and TV-Shows?"

"I believe people are holding hands a lot."

"Sorry I am too shy for that!"

"People kiss each other a lot."

"If I can't touch you, I can't kiss you either. Isn't there anything else? What happens in fairy tales?"

"They live happily together and have a lot of children."

"I can't handle children and you barely have enough money to keep yourself alive."

"I have to admit that's true. So we just sit here and look at each other. That's what they call a date, isn't it?"

"That's it! A date! We go on a date! We just need a date!"

Then her phone rang.


	3. The Diner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit short but I didn't have a lot of stuff planned for this dialogue. There might be a few (or a lot) errors in this text that I will correct later. I hope you can still enjoy this chapter.

Akira was walking through Shibuya without a real destination. He rode the train between Yongen Jaya and Shibuya Station five times, but now, the train was crowded with all the adults that had finished working and he didn't want to be trapped with them. Around him were a lot of people too, but there was also much more room to avoid them, which was crucial because the black-haired boy was typing furiously on his phone.

"Are you really doing this?"

Morgana looked out of his bag and eyed the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Akira didn't respond.

"You know how Futaba is. She won't remember this whole _'Let's make a video game'_ thing in three days."

The boy didn't stop typing. "I don't think so. She said that she wanted to use our group as an example. I think this could be really interesting and I want to see how it ends... and I get the chance to write stories."

"And you like writing stories, I know. You are all about writing stuff and you never show it to anyone because you are afraid of people laughing at you. Yeah, Joker the leader of the Phantom Thieves, a living truck full of self-confidence."

"Be careful Morgana or you might choke on your sarcasm."

The cat rolled his eyes and looked around. They were walking up and down the central street for the fifteenth time. Akira liked to walk around a lot whenever he was thinking about something. Morgana was used to it, but normally it didn't take that long for him to come to a conclusion or whatever. It was boring. The cat was bored. Really bored. He tried to watch the other pedestrians, but there weren't any interesting people. No talking kids or teenagers. Only busy adults on their way home. It was really boring.

Adults were boring.

"So... what do you have? Any ideas for this supernatural-mystery-teenager-adventure?"

"Not really. I am trying to find a role for everyone. I think Ryuji, Haru, and Mishima would be good protagonists."

"Wait, so everybody else would be an antagonist? There are too many enemies!"

"No. A story is consisted out of more characters than protagonists and antagonists. Also, I don't have many people who would be able to be an antagonist. I think I am using Ann for this role."

"WHAT?" The cat leaned on his shoulder and tried to look at his face, Akira didn't look up and only mumbled: "Don't show yourself like that, Morgana."

"No! Why are you declaring my precious lady Ann as a villain? This is a serious crime!" 

"Not so loud!"

Akira looked around to make sure that no one stared at him. It wasn't illegal to own a cat, but he wanted to avoid unnecessary attention.

"Ann told me that she if she had the chance to be in a movie, she wanted to be a villain. I think she would be a great antagonist."

"Really? Why does Lady Ann think of herself like that?"

Morgana sighed and wiggled around in Akira's bag.

"I think it is really fitting. She could be a vampire. Think about it! A majority of Japan's population has dark hair and the appearance of a vampire with golden hair is something really unique. It's like the vampire from the book I bought a few months ago."

"Yeah, you are right." The cat sighed again and returned to the depth of Akira's bag. "Her golden hair is indeed a really unique feature."

"Hey Morgana," the boy tried to change the topic. "Are you hungry? I am hungry. We should visit the diner."

* * *

Akira liked the style of the diner in Shibuya. The walls were kinda strange with their sickly grey-green colour, but the wooden floor and furniture had a calming effect. The place was great for learning and creative work and the food was good too. While the boy was searching for a place to sit down he spotted two familiar faces. Ann and Ryuji were sitting in a corner of the diner. Akira considered if he should say hello or if it would be better to not interrupt them, but the blond boy did already saw him. He waved at him. 

Akira walked to their table.

"Hey dude, what are you doing here?"

"Nothing, just trying to help Futaba with... some video game stuff."

"Oh, has it got something to do with your writing?"

"Yeah it- wait! How do you know about that?"

"Oh, didn't she tell you?" Ann showed Akira her phone. "She sent a message to everyone about it and a chapter of one of your stories. I didn't know that you were that talented! It was amazing!"

Akira wanted to vanish. Why couldn't he be as confident as his metaverse self?

"So everyone read it? Well, that's embarrassing!"

The boy really wanted to vanish.

"It's not embarrassing if everyone likes it! But it's okay if you don't want to talk about it." The blond girl grabbed her drink and put a few of her notes, that were scattered across the table, into her bag. "I think we can take a short break. By the way, I heard that Futaba wanted Yusuke's help too! What is she up to?"

"She want's to create a video game."

"Interesting. What do you think? How many days until she loses interest in that project?"

"I don't know. She has a real plan this time. Everyone is involved somehow and she told me exactly what to do. I think this project will last for a long time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Longer than the movie she wanted to make?"

"Yes."

"Longer than the comic she wanted to make?"

"Maybe..."

"Longer than the cooking show?"

"Definitely... and please don't remind me about that... so much fire."

The memories of the incident caused Akira to cringe.

"I don't need more shocking memories... not today..."

"Why what did happen today?"

"I think Yusuke has a crush on Futaba."

Ann leant herself over the table, her eyes wide open. "What? Yusuke? Our Yusuke? Are you sure?"

"Yes, he has a lot of drawings of her in his sketchbook."

"Oh my god that is so cute!"

"Are you sure about that?" Ryuji, who was unnaturally quite until now. "Yusuke is a really strange guy, maybe it is just some weird misunderstanding? Oh, I just noticed that you don't have anything to drink. Wait I get you something."

And with that, Ryuji walked away to get his friend something to drink.

"What's with him?" Akira watched his friend vanishing behind the other customers.

"I don't know!" exclaimed Ann louder than necessary, while she slammed her head on the table. "He is always like this when we are alone. It's like he want's to run far away whenever I talk to him. It makes learning easier, but a lot more uncomfortable!"

"Oh, right! I completely forgot about that! How's it going? Does he make any progress?"

"What? That monkey tries to learn something? For what?"

"What? Akira! You didn't tell Morgana about this?"

"I did, but his brain shut's down whenever I start to talk about Ryuji."

"Oh yes, yes, that is nice..." And with that, the cat closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Akira continued. "Ryuji told me he needed my help because he has a goal now, but he never told me what it was."

The blond looked at him in disbelieve. "Really? He didn't tell you what he wanted to do? He want's to become a teacher?"

That made sense for Akira. All the teacher's Ryuji met in the last two years were people who told him that he can't achieve anything and that he will fail. Nobody wanted to talk about what Kamoshida did.

"So he wants to become a better teacher. A teacher who helps his students."

"Yes, he started to work really hard for it and he asks Makoto, me and all the others to help him learn the stuff for school. Oh, apropos Makoto! Are you visiting her again? You two didn't see each other since you returned to Tokio for your third year."

"Yeah, we already talked about that. I am going to meet her in a few hours."

"Oh, are you meeting in her apartment? I heard that Sae isn't there most of the time. Are you two going to have some _alone time_ tonight?"

A grin appeared on her face and she gave Akira a wink. He laughed nervously. "It's not like that... we are just going to talk... and hang around in her apartment... alone..."

"You two are dancing around each other all the time, it is kinda sad to watch."

"Yeah, tell me about it!l" He pointed in the direction of Ryuji who returned with a drink for Akira.

Ann smacked her hands on her face and sighed. "I know, I know. Geez. Why are feelings so hard? It feels like it would be much easier to collect all Dragon Balls."

"Easier than what?" Ryuji sat down next to Ann and gave her a questioning look. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing." Akira grabbed the drink and gulped it down in a few seconds. "Thanks for the drink, but I have to go. I have a lot of stuff to do."

He stood up and was ready to leave, but Ryuji said something that caused him to freeze on the spot. "Oh, are you visiting Akechi-Kun?"

The black-haired boy wanted to punch himself in the face. He completely forgot about that. He promised Akechi to visit him when he came back to Tokio.

"No, somebody else has to do this for me! I am going to find someone. Good luck with your studying. And everything else."

The blond boy gave him another irritated look and Ann's cheeks went bright red. Akira chuckled while he left the diner.

* * *

Akira called Futaba on the phone. He waited a few minutes. Then he heard her voice.

"Hey, how is my favourite story writer doing?"

"I am working on stuff, okay. Can you do me a favour? Can you visite Akechi in the hospital?"

There was a short silence. Then he heard her voice in the background. "Hey, Yusuke. What do you think? Should we have our first date in a hospital?... Yes... okay cool!"

"Wait, what?" Akira nearly dropped his phone. "Date? Since when are you two dating?"

"For the last 5 Minutes and 21 Seconds and it is amazing! I have to thank you that you left. You help me reaching my goal a lot faster!"

"Wait, so this "I wanna make a video game" thing was just an excuse to get a date with Yusuke?

"Well, maybe a little bit... but keep writing, I wanna read that later!"

"Eh, okay... so you guys are really dating? Wait, is Yusuke aware of your relationship? Or is that some kind of hostage situation?"

"We talked about it and we both agreed to be part of this relationship."

"To be honest, now you sound even more like a maniac."

"I can't hear you over the sound of my functioning love life. You and Makoto have a lot of work to do if you wanna keep up with us!"

"Wait, what do you mean by tha-"

But Futaba had already ended the call.

"Geez." Akira looked at his phone. "Why is everyone so love crazy all of a sudden?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed that I didn't write down any references (and I didn't have a lot of references too).
> 
> However, the book with the blond vampire Akira is talking about is Kizumonogatari, the first part of my favourite book series, the Monogatari-Series (It is the first book in the chronological order, not the release order. I just wanted to say that. Not that anyone thinks he has to write a mean comment about my mother or something). The Vampire who appears in the book has blond hair which is really unique in Japan and that's why she is described as really beautiful. I thought that this was really fitting for Ann because her blond hair makes her really unique as well.
> 
> I don't think that I have to explain the Dragon Ball reference. 
> 
> I would be happy if you left a comment. Have a good day and see you next time, bye.


	4. The Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything import is in the notes at the end, so look there if you are interested in some references and fun facts.
> 
> PS: I would be really happy if you leave a comment.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

  
"Hey, Sakamoto-Kun? Don't tell me you fell asleep!"

"Hm? Oh, no no, sorry Senpai. I am wide awake and I am about to solve this math problem!"

"You are looking at a textbook about Japanese history!"

Ryuji slapped his head on his desk. "Why is this stuff so hard?"

He felt like dying. He thought staying in school and learning with others would make things easier, but it just makes things more annoying. 

"You should look at Mishima-Kun. He stayed here to learn with you. He is using his free time to help you with your problem and you are just wasting his time."

Haru Okumura dropped her pen and looked at Yuuki Mishima. Suddenly, her eye twitched and she grabbed the book Mishima was reading.

"Wait no, my breasts- I mean my knowledge!"

Haru sighed. Inside of his textbook was a smaller book. A manga.

"Power Pantsu?" Haru picked up the comic with two fingers like it was a dead animal or an old sandwich that someone forgot in his bag over spring break. She looked at it with disgust.

"Dude!" Ryuji's eye widened! "Are you really reading _that_ in public? Damn, you are a brave man!"

"Nonononono, it isn't like that! The story of that manga is really deep and interesting and it is really hard to follow the plot! I am not reading it because you can see some random hot scenes on the pages 5-12, 20-34, 41-72, 80- I am saying this out loud aren't I?"

The boy froze. Ryuji's looked at him, then at Haru, who dropped the newest "Power Pantsu" manga (Volume 69) on the chair next to her.

"You know, I don't know why I bother myself with that kind of stuff."

She stood up and started to pack her books and pencils.

"Maybe we should go home. Holidays are starting on Monday anyway. We should meet somewhere else, where you are able to focus on important things. Also, I am hungry. You said you buy me food when I help you, right Ryuji?"

This time it was Ryuji who sighed. "Yes. I buy you food. When you can live with the knowledge that I use my last money to buy you food and that I won't be able to buy food for myself anymore for the next month, yes I buy you food."

"Wonderful, I knew I could count on you, Sakamoto-Kun!"

"You are cruel!"

Mishima laughed.

~

The group left the classroom.

"Who's your favourite character?" Ryuji asked Mishima.

"Hm?"

"From Power Pantsu!"

Haru suddenly started to walk faster.

"I think Caroline is my favourite character. I like her abilities the most. And her blond hair looks awesome!"

"Yeah, that is true. Blond hair is really awesome."

"Did you hear the rumours?" Haru suddenly interrupted them.

"About what?"

"About the vampire."

She didn't turn around while talking to the boys.

"People say that a foreign vampire is currently in our town. You can encounter her as soon as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. They say it's a woman. A young girl. A princess with beautiful, blond hair, that glows in the moonlight."

"Really? I never heard people talking about that?"

"Because you never pay attention to other people, Sakamoto-kun!"

That felt like a kick to the stomach.

"A blond vampire, huh?"

~

While walking down the stairs, Ryuji whispered something to Mishima.

"Hey, dude. Can you borrow me that manga after you finished reading it?"

"Dude!"

"Come on! If you don't want people to know that you have that stuff, don't show it around in public!"

"No, no. That's not it. Dude! I forgot it in the classroom! Okumura-san put it on a chair next to her and I forgot that it was there!"

"Damned."

He started to talk louder so everyone could hear him.

"Oh, I just remember. I forgot something in the classroom. Let me just go back and grab it quickly!"

Haru turned around and smiled at him.

"You promised, Sakamoto-kun." Her voice was soft, but that made it so terrifying. Like the silence in a forest, before a wolf jumps up and rams his teeth into a rabbit. That kind of silence. Dangerous silence.

"You promised to pay for my food. I am not playing around if it is about food."

"I- I will buy you food! I promise. I will just get what I forgot and then I come back. I promise."

Before someone could say something, Ryuji started running back.

~

The light of the moon was enough to illuminate the classroom. It was kinda early but the sun had already disappeared. It wasn't unnatural thou. It was November after all. He walked to the table they were using earlier and grabbed the manga.

"Nice." He grinned and stuffed it into his schoolbag. When he wanted to turn away, something caught his attention. He looked out of the window. From there, you could see the schoolyard. The school building was built around the yard, so you could see into the classrooms on the other side. And you could see the roof. There was something. Ryuji was sure that he saw a flashlight or something like that. He started to run out of the classroom and towards the stairs to the roof. Normally nobody was allowed to go up there because people often got stuck up there. You can't open the doors from the outside. What if someone went up there and was now trapped?

He ran up the stairs and opened the door to the roof. He put down his bag to keep the door open. Then he started to run around the roof.

"Hello? Is someone here? Hello?"

He fell down a few times and landed in the snow.

Snow. It was November. There was snow on the roof. It was cold. Way too cold. If someone was stuck up here and was forced to spent the night here on this roof, they would die for sure.

Then he noticed it. The light. It came from the entrance of the roof. Whoever was trapped up here, had noticed that Ryuji had opened the door. The boy ran back.

"Hey, you. Is everything alright? I am here to help you!"

He slipped and fell down. His face almost landed in one of the other persons red footprints. Wait. Red...?

"What...?"

The footprints were indeed red. And not only the footprints. The entire way to the door was coloured in a deep red. Like someone spilt paint all the way to the door. Red paint or...

"Hello? Is everything alright?"

He stared at the door. There was a light coming from the inside.

"Hello?"

Suddenly something moved. A person appeared. A girl. She looked at Ryuji. At least he thought so because she had no eyes. Only two black holes. Blood was running down her cheeks and tripped on her formerly white dress. Ryuji looked down. He legs and feet where bare. She wasn't wearing shoes or socks. Ryuji would have asked if walking through the snow with bare feet didn't hurt, but he couldn't move or look away. He wanted to check if her arms were bare too, only to realize that her arms were missing completely.

"You said you are here to help me? Then just stay here with me."

She walked towards him, with shaky legs and leaned against him. Ryuji could feel her teeth sinking into his neck. There was nothing romantic about this act like you can read in most novels. Her jaw was so powerful, that he could feel his shoulder crack under the pressure. He was losing blood. A lot of blood. His vision went black. The last thing he saw was her blond her. Her beautiful blond hair, that was glowing brightly in the moonlight.

* * *

"This is really interesting." Yusuke put his finger on his chin like he did so often when he was thinking about something. "The fact that he went back to get some adult comic book makes it somehow hilarious, but the description of the vampire keeps the story serious. So Ryuji will be the protagonist?"

"Yeah. I think Akira uses people from our group as the characters because he thinks it makes it easier for me to keep working. Also, I think it is kinda cool to have Ann as a vampire. But I want to know how Morgana reacted to this. I am sure he read it. He is always with Akira."

Yusuke gave Futaba her phone back and looked around. They were on a train to visit Akechi in the hospital. Akira had sent her the first parts of the story she wanted him to write for her game and she wanted Yusuke to read it too. It was interesting to read and it was easy to imagine the characters because he was already familiar with them.

"I know this is not really a good place for something like that or the right timing to talk about something like that, but-" Futaba went silent for a second and looked down on her feet. She had pulled her knees up to her chin. She was sitting like she always did. Yusuke thought it was fascinating for some reason.

"-but-" Futaba continued. "- but I think this counts as our first date. I don't really know what to expect from this, but maybe we could eat something in the hospital. Hospitals have always some shops for the visitors. We can eat ice cream together. Or we sit on a bench together, but with less distance than usual. I don't know this is all so new and exciting and I don't know what to do about- AAAAH!"

Yusuke put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She wasn't prepared for this much interaction.

"Yusuke, you can't just touch me there!"

"I... I only touched your shoulder. Isn't the shoulder the one contact point you can use even for strangers without being too obtrusive?"

"Yes, but... still... that scared me... you almost reduced my Hit Points to 0! Instant-Kill-Skills are unfair!"

"I apologize."

The rest of the train ride was quiet. They both looked out of the window. They watch the sunset, between the many buildings they were passing by. Futaba waited for Yusuke to pull out his sketchbook and starting to draw it, but he didn't. She was somehow disappointed by this, but maybe he just didn't want her to feel like he was bored or something.

She was sure he had a good reason.

* * *

The walk from the train station to the hospital was rather relaxing. While Akira's story took place during the cold parts of the year, Futaba and Yusuke were accompanied by warm air and summerly winds. It was nice. Normally, Futaba wasn't really interested in walking around on the outside, but she was even less interested in walking around inside hospitals. She didn't like hospitals. They were so creepy and uncomfortable. They were always so clean but somehow this cleanliness felt poisonous. She was glad that Yusuke was with her, who washed all these thoughts away with his monologues about the wonderful tree's that were in front of the building. She wanted to have a real conversation with him, but she didn't know a lot about trees. She just listened to him explaining why exactly the leaves of this tree were the most aesthetic ones you could find in the city.

After a while, they went inside.

* * *

"Oh, what are you guys doing here?"

Haru smiled at them. "Was Akira busy? That's too bad, he promised to bring his famous coffee. The hospital coffee is just awful."

"Eh..." Futaba gave the girl a surprised look. "Oh, yeah, Akira is busy with doing Makot- I mean doing... something. Why are you here?"

"To visit Goro of course." Her smile vanished. She was sitting in a chair in Akechi's room. The bed was empty. "But it looks we both had a bad timing. They are currently scanning his head."

"Again?" Yusuke sat down next to Futaba. "Why are they doing this so often. They did not find anything dangerous so far, right?"

"Because they don't know the truth." Haru looked down. "He suddenly lost all of his memories and a huge part of his motorik functions. He still needs a wheelchair. For people who don't know about the Metaverse, it's only natural to assume he has some kind of illness that is attacking his brain or something like that."

"Yes. That makes sense. That would be the first thing doctors would look after."

Haru took a sip from the coffee cup she was holding. It was the hospital's coffee she complained about earlier. She twitched while drinking it. "It tastes horrible. Like tap water."

"Really? Let me try it!"

She gave Yusuke the cup and he tried it. He waited a few seconds, then he returned the cup.

"How dare you to insult tap water with this!"

Haru giggled about the joke. Futaba laughed louder then she wanted to. She never heard Yusuke make a 'good' joke, but she was glad that he tried now. She told him earlier that she was a bit afraid of hospitals. This seemed to be his way to cheer her up.

Too bad, she had things to worry about.

"Isn't it kinda late for you? Haru, you are still busy with all the stuff about the company and other things. Isn't it hard to come here after finish work?" The small girl gave her friend a worried look. She was already uncomfortable with being in this building but watching her friend overstrain herself made this whole thing worse. Haru was really girlish most of the time, but she was horrible at using makeup. Futaba could see the dark rings under her eyes. 

"Not at all," the older girl giggled. "It is really refreshing to come here. It is something different than all the paperwork and meetings I have to do. It is just nice to come here after a long day and talk with him, you know."

"Wait, how long are you visiting him here?"

"Well, since Makoto's sister told us that he is alive and in the hospital."

"What? That was months ago! Why are you visiting him so often?"

"I just wanted him to have someone who is always there for him."

"But why you? You are so busy with all the stuff about your Dad's company!"

"Because I was the only one who was able to make time for him. I had time after school and work. Makoto was making preparations for her new school, Yusuke had to do exams, Ann was visiting her parents, Ryuji had to study to make it to the third year and Akira wasn't even sure if he was able to do the third year here in Tokio. You are going to school again too, right Futaba? I was the only one who could look after him."

Haru looked down again, staring at her reflection in the coffee mug.

"It's important I think. That someone is with him. He doesn't have to remember his father and all the bad stuff. He can start a new life, but he shouldn't be alone, you know. I think he needs someone who is there for him, here and later too. Someday he will leave this hospital and if he doesn't know what to do then, it is okay, as long as he isn't completely alone. I always liked his smile. Even if his smile back then was fake. And someday... someday we will all sit in LeBlanc together, not because we have to prepare for Mementos or anything. Just because we want to and everything will be fine." She started to talk faster. "Everyone will be happy and doesn't have to worry about all the bad things, about their parents or their siblings or their future or their memories or what others think of them because it will be just us. Just friends who are watching a movie together and eat candy and snacks or we make fondue or something you know. Just friends having fun and-"

She stopped when something dropped in her coffee.

A tear?

Her cheeks felt wet.

"Oh, sorry. I think I just got a bit to worked up. I guess I am more tired then I thought I would be."

Haru turned around to look at the others. "I am sorry that I... huh?"

She couldn't see Yusuke's eyes because he covered them with his free hand, but a few tears were running down his cheeks. Futaba was crying a river, her watery eyes looked even bigger now.

"Ha-ru - I - did - den't - knaw - tha - t - yuu - we - re - e -" The small girl couldn't stop sobbing.

"I am sorry, I didn't want to make you sad!" Haru felt guilty.

"Haru, you - you -" Futaba grabbed Haru's sweater with her free hand. "I thought that your - your hair was - fluffy, but - but - your heart is even more -"

"This is unbelievable!" The artist was throwing his head back, his free hand still hiding his face. "No painting in this world could express so much pain!"

"Please calm down, it isn't that bad! I was just- come on, can we just laugh again? This atmosphere is a bit too heavy, right? Right?"

Haru smiled a bit. She was glad that she had friends who worried about her. Goro needed someone like that, too. Now even more than before.

* * *

"So..." Haru eyes were red. Not as red as Futaba's eyes, but it was still clearly visible to everyone else. But Haru giggled. She could only giggle about what she noticed earlier.

"So..." She didn't know how to start. "So... what is up... with that?" Haru raised an eyebrow while she pointed at Futaba's hand who was holding Yusuke's.

"Oh, that! That is.. just..." Futaba blushed. "When... did you noticed it?"

"You grabbed his hand as soon as I told you when I started visiting him. But I am not in the position to ask questions, I guess." She looked at her now cold coffee.

"It looks like they make a longer scan again. They do that every few weeks. He won't be back for the next hour. Why don't you two go home? It is already late. Maybe we should visit him altogether at the weekend or something like that? When everyone has time while the sun is still shining. She looked out of the window in the night sky. Futaba looked at her watch.

# 22:03

Was it really that late?

"Yeah, you're right. We are going now. It was good to talk with you. If you ever want to talk about something, you know you can talk with us. And with Akira and the others too... And Haru... Be careful. Okay? Fluffy things break easily."

"Are you worried about my heart or my hair?" The girl laughed.

The two said goodbye to Haru and left the room.

* * *

While they left the building, Futaba walked a bit closer to Yusuke.

"Hey, Yusuke." The girl looked at her boots.

"Thanks for holding my hand."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, after "Shitposting" for the last 3 days, I tried to do something with more quality and quantity. The funny thing is that I wrote this in one sitting and I think I needed less time for it than I need for the last three one-shots ^^
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this. I wrote a Fanfiction about Haru visiting Akechi in the hospital a while ago, but in reality, I had this idea for this fanfiction first. To be honest, the scene where Futaba and Yusuke meet Haru, who is waiting for Akechi, was the first scene I came up with for this Fanfiction. It is even older than the idea for Futaba calling Akira and Yusuke into the attic. If my One-Shot and this Fanfiction are connected is left to your imagination. Now you know that I was thinking about this for a few months now and I hope it is as good as I wanted it to be. I tried to make the meeting with Haru a bit sad and I hope it worked. I can say that I cried while writing it, but I cry over a lot of things so I am not allowed to talk about feelings here, I guess.
> 
> You were able to read the first part of Akira's story in this chapter. I thought about showing a few chapters of this story parallel to the events of "Mr and Mrs Strange."
> 
> Like many things in my Fanfictions, the story is inspired by the Monogatari - Series. The protagonist in the Series meets a vampire because he went out late at night buying an "Adult Magazine" and I thought it would be fitting if Ryuji would be in the same situation.
> 
> If you think I forgot to mention a reference or if you don't understand something, feel free to ask in the comments.
> 
> I don't know if something like "Power Pantsu!" really exists, but the one that Mishima is reading was my own creation. It's about underwear that gives you superpowers and I might accidentally make up an entire story about it if I keep thinking. I have a weird mind.
> 
> I wanted to write a lot more but I didn't want to make this chapter too long. It is already the second longest chapter I ever wrote. I try this kind of chapters more often for my _more_ serious Fanfictions.
> 
> I don't know if I am able to post again soon because I am busy again starting next week, but I try to update as soon as possible.
> 
> (I might skip "The Shocking Truth About The Student Council President And Her Friends" in the next writing cycle, but I am not sure if I really do it. Just so nobody is wondering about it. I didn't forget about it.)
> 
> I would be very happy if you would leave a comment. That would not only motivate me to keep this up, it would also help me to improve my writing skills. See you next time and have a good day/night. Bye! ^^


	5. The Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry that you had to wait so long for this chapter. As always, I tried to do too many things at the same time. I try to update my ongoing stories more frequently in the next few weeks, but I am not sure if I will able to actually do that. I still hope that you can enjoy this chapter and we see each other in the end notes.

Ryuji disliked bookstores. They were awkwardly quiet. Like, isn't it illegal to read the books without buying them? He sighed. He looked down and watched Ann searching for books in the lowest part of the shelf. "Aha! Here is it!" She pulled out a big book with some weird glasses and colour on it. "850 pages compressed knowledge about Chemie. You need to catch up there too."

"Do you think so? I think I am doing just fine with Chemie."

"Really? If I remember correctly, the last time we had a test in Chemie you preferred to eat it instead of showing it to your mom."

"Yeah... maybe I am just no friend of Chemie. I hate Chemie and I am sure the feeling mutual."

"Yeah, right!" She stood up and hand the boy a the heavy tome. He was already carrying other books about different subjects. "Okay, the next thing we need is a book about history. Makoto told me the name, but I am not sure if we find it here."

Apparently, Makoto had given Ann the name of some books that would help Ryuji to study. After eating in the diner, they went to the next bookstore and Ann was handing him one heavy book after another. "How is Mishima's help with your history lesson?"

She didn't look at him. Instead, she was focused on a book on the top shelf. Probably another book from Makoto's list.

"It's okay," Ryuji answered, his eyes still gazing on her face. "He is surprisingly serious when he talks about history. Never thought that he is some kind of history nerd. But yeah, you can never judge a book by its cover." He looked down at the stack of study aids. "...Well, most of the time. I am pretty sure none of this turns out to be some fantastic bestseller novel."

"As if you read something without pictures."

"Touchi."

"You mean _touché_. Also, that's French."

Ryuji frowned. Thank's to Ann, he was able to read some English sentences and he even bought himself English literature (mangas) to improve, but he was sure he would never be able to speak one single word of French. How did Haru and Makoto manage to do this stuff? He wanted to change the topic. "Did Mishima tell you about his plan for the third year?"

"No? What plan?"

"When he found out that Akira is spending his third year at Shujin Academy, he decided to better his reputation."

"So he is spreading all these strange rumours I heard?"

"What? No. He was just telling everyone who asks him about his newfound self-esteem that it was Akria who helped him become a braver person and everything. Even Makoto and Haru thought it would be a good idea and they're talking about how much it helps you to talk with him about your problems. I heard some boys even talk about how they want to vote him for student council president in the new year. That kind of stuff. Mishima just wanted to tell everyone about the good things he did."

"Well, I guess that is a good idea, but he should be careful with such things. You know rumours can get really bad, really fast. Or pretty stupid."

"Really. I only heard good stuff so far."

"Like: _Kurusu-Kun fought off a shark while baking a cake for my little brothers birthday?_ "

People are assholes.

"But I guess," Ann continued, "After the police told the school that he is innocent a lot of people felt bad. So this might be their way to apologize."

"Maybe. But if that continues Akira will be student council president. I think he would be good at that."

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

Ann placed another book on the stack he was carrying and walked to the next shelf. Ryuji followed her.

"I ask what you are going to do in the third year."

"I don't know. Studying, probably. I hope it gets easier with this books." He looked down on the heavy stack in his arms. "By the way, how much does this stuff cost?"

"I don't know. I think something around 8500¥."

"What? I don't have any money with me!"

"What? Wait, then why did you ask about the costs in the first place? And why don't you have money? Didn't your mom give you something to buy books?"

"I didn't ask her for money. I don't want to rely on her all the time when I need something, you know."

"Okay, so you got a job somewhere? What is it?"

"Oh, no I didn't get a job."

"What?"

"What is wrong with that?"

"Normally when people say they don't want to rely on someone, they get a job. You just made the decision to starve!"

"Well, I didn't really plan that far ahead."

"Yeah, you never plan ahead. That is your problem."

"I am sorry that I am not such a bookworm like you."

"Wait, you think I am just here because it's fun for me?" She stood up and slammed another book in Ryuji's arms, "Because, spoiler, it's not. I am not here because I like books and even for Makoto, it was a pain to search for all the books she told me to look at because they can help you study. And you just stand there and think it was fun for me to stay up all night and look wish bookstores still sell this stuff?"

"What? I didn't know that-" Ryuji hadn't noticed it before, but the girl's eyes had small dark circles under them. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before. He had looked at her face all the time, after all. It worried him a bit. "I don't know. Maybe." He didn't know what to say and just mumbled these words. He couldn't understand why Ann was so worked up so suddenly. The girl's eyes widened.

"Oh. Okay. You know how you would answer to this in English?"

"...No?"

"Fuck you, Ryuji! That's how."

"Ann, you said the F-word."

"Fuck the F-word!"

She slammed the last book on her list on the stack in his hands and walked away with an angry look. Without a warning, she returned to him and slammed something else on the stack. A bunch of ¥-bills. "Here!" It felt like she was yelling at him through her teeth. "That's enough to pay for the books and for the love of god buy yourself something to eat."

And with that, she stomped out of the bookstore again. Ryuji just stood there. He didn't know what happened, but he knew it was his fault. Somehow. He felt bad. He didn't pay attention and now she was mad at him. Ryuji didn't move. He just stood there with the stack of heavy books but didn't look at it. Not even at the money. He just stood there in the middle of the aisle and looked at the entrance, where other customers were walking.

"... Fuck."

* * *

When Makoto ask him to come to her apartment, Akira was really happy. Cooking together also sounded like something they could both enjoy. But now they were entrapped in a heavy, awkward silence. Akira was cutting some onions while Makoto was rising rice. The sink where she was working was further away. The Niijima-Apartment had a surprisingly large kitchen. Or at least it felt large. It would be uncomfortable to talk over this distance. Akira had to find a reason to get closer to her.

"Hey Makoto, could you give me some salt?"

"Oh, the salt is in the shelf in front of you."

Akira looked at the shelf and found the salt immediately. Well, that didn't work. All the spices were there too and the other ingredients were next to him. There was no reason for Makoto to come to him and he had no reason to go to the sink. The only thing there were some detergents and there was no reason for him ask for that. He didn't need the detergents for the onions and the author of this fanfiction was way too untalented to write a romantic story about a double suicide through detergent poisoning.

"Man, your apartment sure is silent, isn't?"

"Oh, yes, it is."

And it was silent again.

Makoto was thinking about the same thing. There had to be something they could talk about.

"Hey, do you... I don't know... wanna watch a movie? I mean... watch one together. We have a pretty big TV here so it would be like we visit the cinema." But the girl got cold feet immediately. "I- I mean- not today, because we have some cooking to do, but... sometimes... you know?"

"Yeah... I mean, not today, but maybe... I don't know... tomorrow?

_What? So soon? I am not prepared for that!_

"Yes, that would be great." _Damned! Why did I just agree so fast? Maybe he didn't want to meet so soon?_

"So... we watch a movie tomorrow?"

"Looks like we do. Hehe." Makoto laughed nervously. "Guess we have a date then?"

Akira froze when he realized she was right. He had indeed just asked her for a date. In her own apartment too. He wanted to says something else but he didn't know what. Both of them just continued their work silently. Their faces were red with embarrassment.

* * *

Futaba opened her eyes. She couldn't remember when exactly she had fallen asleep. As far as she could see, she was sitting on a bench. Probably one of the benches in front of the hospital. It was already dark. The lamps that were aligned along the pavement were shining brightly. A little bit too bright, but maybe that was because she had just woken up.

"Oh, are you are awake again. Are you feeling better now?" Yusuke set next to her. His grey eyes were examining her. His left hand squeezed hers and the girl noticed that they were still holding hands. Even more, she had used his shoulder as a pillow. A bony, but somehow really comfortable pillow.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I am better now!" Futaba exclaimed and looked at her feet to hide that her face turned slightly red with embarrassment. She even thought her glasses got a bit foggy. Why was her body debuffing her in such situations! "I was just a bit tired, that's all!" She looked around and found a box of doughnuts. They bought some at the visitor-shop before they left the hospital. "Wanna eat a doughnut?" Futaba asked with a dry voice. She wanted to change the topic.

"Sure. Something sweet would be nice after such a mournful experience."

"Your just happy to get free food." She grinned, but the artist just ignored her comment. "It's a bit dry, don't you think? I need something to drink."

"Don't just demand more! Normally the BOY buys stuff for the GIRL! Not the other way around!"

"I think these old concepts of gender roles are old and meaningless. Feel free to buy me whatever you want."

"Don't turn it like buying you stuff is a right I should fight for!"

Yusuke chuckled and continued drawing on a piece of paper.

"You were drawing while I was asleep? Let me see!"

"No. It's not finished yet!"

"Oh come on!"

The small girl managed to get a good view of the paper before Yusuke could pull it away. It looked like he was drawing the view in front of him. He had started with a few trees on each side and one of the lamps on the right. The centre of the picture was still white.

"I didn't know what I want to draw in the centre. I think there should be something important, but I don't know what."

"Since when do you start a picture without knowing what it should be? Is your artistic genius fading away?"

"Nonsense!"

"Also, why are you drawing something so trivial like a street light! You should go for something bigger. Like the moon!"

"Excuse me? In the past thousands of people have drawn the moon. Every fool could do that! We should pay more attention to the small beauties of the modern world! Like this small street light which illuminates the streets at night even then, when the pitiful moon is hidden behind clouds."

"Did you just romaticise a god damn lamp?"

If this guy was able to turn instant ramen into a candlelight dinner just by talking about it too, then Futaba would need to chain him to a chair in her cellar. She knew it was a good idea to read Steven King's Misery. It's like a tutorial for this situation!

"But it is good that you keep drawing." She tried to think about something else. "I thought about some scenes we need for the game!"

"Oh, you still want to do that?"

"Well, I didn't lose interest in it. Also, Akira's story would be wasted if we didn't use it. And I want to see the reaction of the other when they see that we turned them into video game characters! And I want to see what my role is. Right now we only have Ryuji, Ann, Mishima and Haru..." Futaba remembered the conversation they had in the hospital and her smile faded a little. "That's right. I should tell Akira that we were here." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and started typing.

**We were at the hospital, but Akechi was in some kind of treatment. We could only talk to Haru.**

She hit send and wanted to put her phone away, but to her surprise, Akira answered immediately.

**  
Really?**

**That's too bad. How is Haru?**

  


**She is... waiting there for him... I don't know if I want to say more.**

**Wait, why are you answering so fast? Aren't you at Makoto's place?**

**  
**  
**Yes, I am. We are eating right now. She just went to the bathroom. We had a long and deep dialogue in which we only communicated through awkward silence and nodding. Also, we have a date tomorrow and I think we both don't know exactly how and why?**

  


**Woah. That's just...**

  


**This is just what?**

**How did you and Yusuke do it? It can't be that hard right?**

**Oh.**

**She is coming back.**

**Ttyl. Bye.**

****

Well, that was interesting.

"Did Ann contacted you about her struggling with boys?"

"No, Akira did- wait, is something with Ann?"

Yusuke showed her his phone. It displayed a conversation between him an Ann.

**BOYS. ARE. STUPID!**

**I don't even know why I'm trying to help Ryuji! It's like trying to help a dead rabbit to get a job at the government!**

**Boys are SO stupid!**

  


**As a member of the gender that you are currently upset about, I have to ask: Why are you contacting me with this problem?**

  


**Well, I low-key think of you as the gay friend most women have.**

**Shit did I actually sent this to you?**

**Also, I just remembered that you are dating Futaba now.**

**Why has everyone a better working love life than me?**

**That's not fair!**

**I have the feeling that even Morgana finds a nice cat-lady-whatever before I get my shit together.**

**I am too tired for that garbage.**

**Good night.**

****

"Yusuke. Remind me to punch Ann later."

"For what?"

"For assuming that my boyfriend is gay."

"Well then," the artist gave her a warm smile. "But it is indeed amusing that they assume we have more knowledge about love then they do. I know not much about relationships."

"That's it!" Futaba stood up and walked a few steps away from the bench. "That's what we need to do!"

"Not knowing about relationships?"

"No! Pretending that we have everything figured out!" She pointed at him like she tried to imitate Phoenix Wright. "It's like that saying: If you want to trick your enemies you have to trick yourself first!"

"I am not sure if this is the correct-!"

"Nananana! Don't ruin this! This is important. I have everything figured out!" She crossed her arms and started to explain her plan with a self-praising grin. "When we work on the game, we will spend time together, obviously! Not only do we have a good excuse to hang around together, but we can also use it to slowly figure out everything about love that we need to know!"

"I understand what you want to say, but I don't know what you want to do."

"It's simple. We pretend to know everything about love until we actually know everything about love! Then we help the others to get their shit together and be happy. Akira and Makoto, Ann and Ryuji and Akechi and Haru! LeBlanc will overflow with lovely couples before the summer ends."

"Oh right. You start going to school again at the end of the year, right?"

"Don't remind me of that!"

It looked like Futaba's enthusiasm had vanished within one blow. 9999 damage to happiness. It was fascinating how a single sentence could ruin your day.

"Ah... I am sorry. I knew it is a serious problem for you. I shouldn't have mentioned it." Futaba walked silently back to the bench and sat down next to him again. She leaned with her back against his shoulder and watched a street light next to them. She pulled her knees up to her chest rested her chin on them. Yusuke felt bad. He wanted to give her a hug, but then he remembered what happened on the train. He didn't want to scare her again.

"Futaba? May I comfort you?"

"I command you to comfort me, hehe!" Futaba forced a smile. "That's the least you can do after landing such a critical hit!"

"I see." Yusuke put an arm around her and pressed her against his chest. The girl stared into the night sky. "We need a name!"

"Huh? For the game?"

"No. I mean, yeah. For the game. A developer name would be good too. But I meant a name for us as helper and guardians of the mortals with love trouble."

"You are really serious about this. Well, what did you think of?"

"I don't know. Something that sounds cool but is also easy to say. Like... I don't know. Dr Love and Professor Romance. Something like that."

"Oh, so like an artist who signs his work? A pseudonym or a screen name."

"Yeah. What about _The Love Bringers_?"

"That is too obtrusively, don't you think?"

"Well yeah. I keep thinking about a name. But I don't want to do all the work by myself. You have to think about a name too, while you are drawing your damn street lights!"

"Of course I will." Yusuke laughed and looked down at his sketch. The centre wasn't empty anymore. Instead, a small girl with long hair and glasses was looking back at him.

He couldn't help but smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I have to explain the Misery reference. If you find some errors feel free to tell me in the comments. Sometimes I forget to add a part or something is in the wrong place. If something doesn't really make sense or it is weird to read, you can also write a comment. If you liked this chapter, you can also leave a comment. If you use your lungs to breath like all cool human beings leave a comment. I will be thankful if you leave a comment. You can also decide which movie Akira and Makoto are going to watch (at least what they try to watch).
> 
> Originally I wanted to add a picture (a gif) to this chapter but sadly my pc broke and my netbook is not powerful enough to do what I need to do so you have to wait until next time. Sorry about that.


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